Disclaimer - I own nothing you recognise.
Challenges listed at the bottom.
Word Count - 2260
All The Time In The World
"Hermione's going to kill me," Harry groaned, leaning back in his seat.
Bill, seated next to him, laughed, as the two of them watched Ron practically slavering over the stripper currently giving him a lap dance.
"At least I can blame George for this mess," Harry added, waving his hand at the stripper.
"Come on, Harry, it's better down where it's wetter," Charlie shouted across the table, from where he was getting his own lapdance. "You can't knock what you haven't tried!"
Harry shook his head. "Just make sure you wear a raincoat," he replied.
He was used to Charlie's ribbing. The man was openly bisexual, but most people were of the opinion that he just figured any hole was a goal.
"I'm going to the bar," Harry said, squeezing past Bill. "What do you want this time?"
Bill had made it his mission to try every cocktail on the menu.
"Hmm? Oh. Erm… Molten Lava?"
Harry blinked. "Sounds dangerous."
"Get one for yourself," Bill replied tilting his head slightly. "Live a little."
Harry shook his head. "Someone has to stay at least relatively sober, if only to make sure that we get Ron home."
Bill snorted. "You know that we will. Have a drink, Harry, it's not like you're going to fall over with one cocktail, is it?"
Walking over to the bar, Harry immediately caught the attention of the barman that had been serving them all evening. He put in an order for the table, and picked up the cocktail menu.
"What do you recommend?" he asked while the barman poured drinks, gesturing down to the menu.
"For you? Euphoria," the barman replied with a cheeky smile.
Harry raised his eyebrows. "Sold."
"Go on back to your table, handsome, I'll fetch the drinks over in a few."
Harry looked back at the tables they'd taken over, only to find two more strippers had appeared, targeting George and, amusingly, Percy.
"I'm good here, I think," Harry replied, watching the happenings from a safe distance.
"You don't like strippers?"
Harry looked back at the barman. "I have nothing against them. Just… not really my scene."
"Who's the groom?"
"How'd you know it's a stag party?"
The barman raised his eyebrow. "What else could it be?"
"Good point," Harry conceded. "The redhead on the far left of the table."
"Thank you for clarifying; there's a lot of redheads up there."
Harry laughed. "I know."
He took one of the two trays that had been set up and made his way up to the tables, the barman following with the second tray. They handed the drinks around, and finally, the bartender handed Harry a green drink with an umbrella sticking out of the top.
"Euphoria," he murmured, as he passed the glass over. "Enjoy it, handsome."
Harry sat down, eyeing the drink with distaste.
"You took my advice," Bill murmured, leaning over. "What did you get?"
"Euphoria, apparently," Harry replied. "It's green. Why is my drink green?"
Laughing, Bill shook his head. "It is a bit green," he agreed after a moment.
"No consumable item has the right to be that green."
"What made you choose 'Euphoria'?" Bill asked, his head tilted.
Harry shrugged. "I asked for a recommendation."
"He was flirting with you," Bill said after a momentary pause. "I don't like that."
Harry blinked. He was about to ask what Bill meant when Ron slipped off his seat.
…
"You're my hero," Ron grumbled as Harry put a takeaway coffee cup down on the table in front of him.
"Uh huh," Harry replied, passing them out to the others. He'd never been more thankful for living three doors down from a coffee shop than he was this morning, when he woke to realise he had no coffee in the house.
"I'm getting married in three hours," Ron commented idly.
Harry waited for a moment. He wasn't disappointed.
"Fuck. I'm getting married in three hours," Ron repeated, sitting up in his seat.
Snorting, Harry sat down at the table, inhaling the scent of his own coffee. The shop had a blend of herbs they put in it that he loved, though they wouldn't tell him the recipe. He supposed it was good business, he was in there at least once a day.
As Ron started panicking, Harry sat back and watched.
"Aren't you supposed to be calming him down or something?" Bill asked, his head resting on back on the armchair. "Best man duties and all."
Harry shrugged. "He'll tire himself out eventually."
A knock on the door got Harry's attention, and he opened the door to find two Auror's standing there, both looking amused. He recognised one of them as Auror Robards, but the other was younger, probably a rookie.
Harry frowned, but moved out of the way for them to come in.
"What can we do for you?" he asked, when they were all in the living room.
"We've had reports of petty vandalism in the early hours of this morning, and some eyewitnesses put Harry Potter at the scene of the crime."
Ron groaned from the table. "It wasn't him."
"We know," Auror Robards said, laughing. "We've heard all about it. Another complaint came in about a group of drunken women stealing a ladder from a garden and trying to use it as stilts. We just called in to let you know there's a fine to be paid."
Harry shook his head. "I don't want to know what Hermione got up to last night. Gimme the thing," he said, holding his hand out for the money order from Gringotts.
His eyes widened at the amounts.
"Ouch."
Signing the slip, he handed it back, and Auror Robards thanked him.
"Congratulations on the wedding," he added to Ron, before they took their leave.
"I'll give you the money back," Ron promised Harry.
Harry waved him off. "Don't worry about it. Hermione will kill us all if she finds out about it."
"I don't know," Bill replied, laughing. "If they were stealing ladders, I don't think she'd have much of a leg to stand on."
George was frowning. "I don't remember vandalising anything."
"Hmm," Harry nodded. "Percy thought it would be a good idea to paint the side of the bar we were in… and you just happened to have magical spray paint available."
"Percy thought?"
Harry nodded again. "Yeah. Percy thought."
Bill looked around. "Where is Percy?"
"Still asleep in the back guest room. He was the drunkest - and also the most likely to vomit, so I put him in there alone with a basket and a monitoring charm."
Bill snorted. "Looks like it was a good job you did decide to stay sober."
"Apparently."
…
"Look, I know you find me attractive. I've seen you looking at my breasts."
Harry stared at the woman. "Um. No."
"But-"
"Really," Harry interupted. "No."
The woman stomped off. Harry shook his head. She was the third of Hermione's cousins to come on to him in the last hour, though admittedly she'd been the most abrupt.
The wedding had gone without a hitch, thankfully, and his duty as best man was over. His best friends were practically glowing with happiness, and it made him happy to see them like that.
He was about to steal away to get himself a drink when an argument broke out on the dance floor. He watched from the side, but when a badly thrown punch missed its target and caught the side of Hermione's head, he lost his temper.
Grabbing the offender by his arm, Harry pulled him outside of the hall that they were using as the reception venue, and pushed him up against the wall. The man flailed for a few moments before he settled down, eyeing Harry with trepidation.
"Harry?"
Bill had followed him outside.
"I'll be back in in a minute," Harry told him, still glaring at the can he had pressed against the wall.
Bill came closer, pulling Harry back. He eyed the idiot with distaste. "I suggest you leave."
The man didn't need telling twice, as he skirted around Harry and left, muttering under his breath about overreactions.
"I need to go and calm down," Harry muttered.
"How?" Bill asked, his lips tilting up in a smirk.
"It's a toss up between making a cocktail or committing homicide."
Bill snorted. "Go make a drink… make sure it's not green this time, huh?"
Harry rolled his eyes. "I'm sure it'll give me more satisfaction that 'Euphoria' did, as well," he retorted, as they moved back inside.
…
"You okay?"
Two drinks later, and Harry was calm enough to check on Hermione. She wrapped her arms around him.
"Thank you for getting rid of him. I don't even know him! He was one of my cousin's plus ones."
Harry shook his head. "It's not a wedding without a fight, I suppose."
"I hear you had fun last night," she asked after a moment, pulling him onto the dance floor.
"What happens on a stag, stays on a stag," Harry replied, motioning zipped lips.
"Uh huh," she murmured, amused. "I've told Ron he'll be selling a kidney to pay you back for the vandalism."
"Don't know what you're talking about."
"Sure you don't. But really, how was last night? Did you have a good time?"
Harry smiled. "It was… loud."
"Only child syndrome," Hermione replied with a laugh. "It's a bit much for us without a million siblings to be around the Weasley rabble."
Harry could only nod his agreement. "Did you have a good hen party?"
She shrugged. "That'd be telling."
"Oh, have you been trying to shoot cupid's arrows again?" he asked, spinning her around. "Only a few of your cousins have been a bit… forward."
Hermione rolled her eyes. "You have no idea how hot you look in a tux, do you?"
"Erm… no?"
She grinned. "Speaking of hot, Bill Weasley can't take his eyes off you whenever you're in the same room. What's up with that?"
"I don't know what you're talking about. He's…"
"Gay, single, and clearly in lust with you," Hermione finished for him. "And you've had a crush on him for years."
"He's a Weasley. I don't want things to get awkward if…"
She shook her head. "Harry, you deserve to be happy. If Bill will make you happy… I say go for it. The rest of the family love you enough that even if you did get together and break up, they wouldn't abandon you."
Shaking his head at her, he led her over to the bridal table. "Stay here, I'll get you a drink."
She nodded, pressing a kiss to his cheek before quickly being snapped into conversation by a woman Harry didn't know.
…
"You on barman duty tonight or something?" Bill asked when Harry entered the room they'd stored the drinks in.
"Or something," Harry replied, pouring a glass of wine for Hermione, and a scotch for himself. "You've been quiet today," he added, quirking an eyebrow at Bill.
Bill stared at him for a moment, before he said, "You didn't say anything last night. When I said I didn't like the barman flirting with you. Why?"
Harry snorted. "Because Ron fell off his chair."
"So you weren't avoiding the conversation?"
"To be honest, I forgot about it. What with Percy's genius idea and trying to get everyone back to mine. So, why didn't you like the barman flirting with me?"
Bill smirked. "Take Hermione her drink and come back."
"Why?"
Stepping forward, Bill leant down enough to reply, "Because I wouldn't want to keep the bride waiting while I ravish the best man in the back room of the hall."
Harry swallowed hard, his pulse speeding up as he stumbled back. "Nuh uh, no ravishing in the back room," he replied, shaking his head.
Escaping a smirking Bill, Harry handed Hermione her drink and quickly made his way outside. The fresh air felt wonderful on his flushed skin, and as his heart calmed to a steadier rate, he took a deep breath.
"Why are you running from me?"
"I… Uh…" Harry cut himself off, turning to look at Bill, who was leaning against the wall by the doorway. "I'm not… I don't…"
"What are you so scared of?"
Harry fought the impulse to disapparate away when Bill neared him. He liked Bill, he really did, but the idea of a romantic relationship with the man scared the life out of Harry.
Because he liked Bill.
And he knew it would be so easy to love Bill.
He watched Bill get closer and closer, until he was so close that there was barely room for air to pass between them.
Bill moved slowly.
Giving Harry time to move. Time to run.
Harry didn't take it.
The kiss was chaste, sweet, gentle.
Until it wasn't.
Until it was teeth nibbling on lips, and hands gripping at hair.
When they parted, both were breathing hard. Bill kept a hand on Harry's hip, holding him in place.
"Do you have any idea how long I've wanted to do that," Bill asked, his voice deep with repressed lust. "Merlin, Harry."
"Hey, what are you two doing out here? We're about to cut the cake!" Ron said, standing in the doorway.
Harry laughed when Bill let his chin fall to his chest.
"We'll be in in a minute," Harry replied, waving Ron back inside.
"My brother. The ultimate oblivious cockblocker."
Harry laughed, but he sobered quickly. "We have time, right?"
Bill caressed his cheek. "All the time in the world."
Written for;
Creativity Month - HarryBill - P10 - "I need to go and calm down." / "How?" / "It's a toss up between making a cocktail or committing homicide."
Character Appreciation - 24. Only child
Disney, S3. Under The Sea - "It's better down where it's wetter."
Book Club - Celia Hendricks - Petty / Green / Vandalising something
Showtime - 2. When You're Good To Mama - Basket
Buttons - D1. "You know that we will." / W1. Euphoria
TV Show of the month - Anya Jenkins - Money / Selling / "Look, I know you find me attractive. I've seen you looking at my breasts."
Sophie's Shelf - 2. Euphoria, Satisfaction, Pulse, Nibble, Molten, Deep.
Caffeine Awareness Day - 26. Ristretto - Coffee Cup
Scavenger Hunt - 14. Word Set - Arrow, Herb, Ladder.